The equivalent of two months of precipitation fell in three hours. Torrential rains fell on Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) on Wednesday evening, causing flooding in several streets of the city center, said relief, weather services and an AFP correspondent on the spot. According to the firefighters, no victim was to be deplored shortly before midnight.
#Agen under water. Terrible flooding in part of the city center #floods pic.twitter.com/C3stLyvdr1
– Patrick Anselmetti (@P_Anselmetti) September 8, 2021
#weather : To #agen, the rue fon de raché is flooded #floods pic.twitter.com/mZFNwEhZ79
– Carine Caussieu (@carinecauss) September 8, 2021
#agen #flood the water is coming at an incredible speed pic.twitter.com/lVGsL6Ylxq
– Mélanie Kieffer (@ TheStellina69) September 8, 2021
Flooding rue des charretiers, almost 1.5 meters of water in the street #thunderstorms #agen pic.twitter.com/DFTlHS93nT
– Yannick Boyer-Chenou (@Boy_yan_) September 8, 2021
Between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., the Agen-Estillac resort recorded an absolute record of 129 mm of rain, and 3,000 lightning bolts were detected in Lot-et-Garonne over this period. At around 11 p.m., after a storm had passed, several streets in the city center were flooded, car traffic stopped, with a level of water reaching the knees of passers-by and rushing into houses, noted a correspondent of the ‘AFP on site.
32 departments on orange alert
According to the town hall, the water has risen up to 2 meters in some streets, forcing firefighters to intervene to put people to safety. The city is working to rehouse the disaster victims, with many basements and garages flooded.
Thirty-two departments, from Occitanie to Ile-de-France, including Lot-et-Garonne, had been placed by Météo-France on orange vigilance for the risk of thunderstorms and flooding on Wednesday and Thursday. By the end of the afternoon, thunderstorms had multiplied in the north of New Aquitaine, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and in Normandy.